Copyright: Tristan Pannérec


What is StrateGE?
What is FoS ?

« FoS » (Fields of Strategy) is a simplified version of the ESTH war-game. It allows replaying the great battles of the history. FoS is based on voluntarily very simple and abstract rules that can be assimilated in several minutes. « FoS » lies thus between the classical mind games like Chess and the simulation oriented games. For the moment, FoS is limited to the Napoleonic great battles, but extension for other period and scale are in progress.

This help file constitutes the user manual of program (interface presentation). The rules of the game are described in the player manual that is strongly recommended to read. On the other hand, for most players the reading of this user manual will be dispensable, as the interface is largely intuitive and simple (the section “quick start” gives the essential principles.

The FoS program is distributed as a freeware. You can freely use it and distribute it as long as it is outside a commercial context. All commercial use of the program or the rules without author consent is strictly forbidden.

We hope that this game will enjoy you as it enjoys us.

T. Pannérec


Quick start
Quick start and interface overview

This section summarises the essential elements to start and play a game.

To start a new game, choose "New Historical Game" of menu "File" and select the desired scenario in the dialog box. Select AI for one player and local for the other (one player game).

The essential elements of the interface are the followings : the left button allows selecting a unit (click several times if several units are present in the same square) and the right button is used to give movement orders. Once all orders have been entered, the green arrow in the tools bar allows executing the phase of the active player (movements, fires and fights). The program is the in the « result » mode to visualise the consequences and no orders can be given in this mode. To pass to the opponent phase, press again the green arrow.

Some useful tips :

The colour of the unit indicates the nationality and the current force.

The objectives are represented by national flags according to the side that controls (a white flag indicates an objectives controlled by neither side).


Loading a new game

1. Historical games

To start a new game, choose "New Historical Game" from the "File" menu and select the desired scenario in the following dialog box:

At the bottom right, the short description of the scenario gives the duration and the size with the following definition:

« very small »	: 0-25 units	« large »	: 101-150 units

« small » 	: 26-50 units	« very large »	: 151-250 units

« medium » 	: 51-100 units

Remark: The scenarios are not always balanced as they represent an historical situation. In some case, it is recommended to give to the easiest side a handicap to restore the balance (or to play only with the hardest side against the AI, which is often weaker than a human player).

2. Matches (fictitious games)

Instead of playing an historical scenario, it is possible to create a fictive battle to play with built-in armies. To this end, choose "New fictitious game" from the "File" menu. You can either played with the map of an historical scenario (.scn) or with a map designed for match (.scd). Once a scenario is chosen, you have to select the army for both sides. These armies should have been created with the army editor (« .arm » files) and exchange between the players in case of non-local game.


Game options

After having chosen a scenario, a dialog box appears to configure the game.

Player 1/2 : Choose here the type of player for side 1/2. Local implies that both players are human uses the same computer. E-Mail implies a game between two distant player exchanging orders by e-mail (see « e-mail game »). TCP/IP implies a game with a direct connection by Internet or LAN (see « Internet game »). Please notice that the player who initiates an e-mail or TCP/IP game plays always the first side. AI implies that the computer will play this side. The AI is for the moment simple. If the scenario is balanced, it is recommended to use a handicap (cf. next topic) to make the game interesting.

Handicap 1/2 : Allow to modify the handicap that is initially defined in the scenario for each side. This handicap acts on the rally tests (cf. player manual). By modifying the handicap, the balance of the game can be redefined.

Generate historic : With this option the program does an automatic save each turn to replay the game. This option is not possible with distant (e-mail or TCP/IP) games.

Deployment : With the « default » option, the unit are deployed as it is defined in the scenario (historical positions). With the « random » option, the program randomly deploys the units in the deployment areas. With the « player » option, the game starts with a special turn during which the player can deploy themselves their unit in the deployment areas.

Time limit : With this option, each player has a limited time to enter his moves. This time is given in minutes.


Loading a saved game

To reload a saved game, choose "Load a saved Game" in the "File" menu and select the desired file. The saved files have the ".sav" extension. They keep the game options.

Remark 1: to save a game, choose "Save game" in the “file” menu.

Remark 2: A double-clicks on a .sav file in the windows explorer automatically open FoS and load the situation.


Replaying a game

To replay a game, choose "Replay game" in the "File" menu and select the desired file (".his" extension). The program displays then the movements of each player for each turn. To advance to the next phase, use the green arrow in the tools bar.


Tools bar

The tools bar of the main window contains button allowing to quickly access to the command of main menu. The commands are the following, from left to right:

-	Zoom

-	Display the grid

-	Display the lines of sight from a position

-	Display the name of the units

-	Highlight unit with already an order

-	Display the final (anticipated) positions of the units (after the movements) instead of current position

-	Review the last execution phase

-	Next phase

-	Display the window with the battle order

-	Display the result window

-	Display the aid card

The effects of these commands are detailed in the rest of this help file.


State bar

The state bar of the main window displays useful information. From left to right:.

1) Name and type of the selected unit

2) Current player (active player)

3) Current turn/ number of turns

4) Phase (order or result)

5) Coordinates of the currently selected square

6) Current basic rally factor for each side


Main display area
Main game zone

The display area of the main window allows visualising all components of the game: terrain, units etc. It is in this area that orders can be given with the mouse buttons.

Two zoom levels (menu "View/Zoom") are available. The scrolling bars (and also the arrows, page up, page down, end and home keys, with eventually the control key) allow viewing the different parts of the terrain. When the « Mouse scrolling » option is activated (menu Option), the screen can be scrolled by moving the cursor to the edges of the window. The mini-map allows also selecting the area to display.


Terrain
The terrain

In «FoS.», the playing surface is a draughtboard with 3 types of squares: plain, cover (villages, towns and forest) and forbidden (sea, ocean, rivers…)


The units

The units in «FoS.» are represented by a counter. The colour of the counter depends from the nationality and the current force of the unit (a dark colour indicates a great force).

At the centre of the counter is a graphical symbol that indicates the type of unit (infantry, cavalry, artillery, leader).

If the option "Unit Information" of the "View" menu is selected, a bar with the beginning of the name of the unit appears on the counter.

 = Infantry (with force 1)

 = Cavalry (with force 2)

 = Artillery (with force 3)

 = Leader

Remark: When a unit is detected but not identified, no information is display on the counter except the national flag.


Display Options

Several options allow configuring the main display area of the game:

- Menu "View/Units" : display or hide the units.

-	Menu "View/Objectives" : Display or hide the objectives. In the tactical zoom mode, the national flag of the controlling side is displayed (for the strategic zoom mode, a square with the national colour is displayed). A white flag indicates an objective controlled by neither side.

-	Menu "View/Reinforcement Area" : Display or hide the reinforcement. For each square where a unit is awaited, an « R » followed by the coming turn is displayed in black for side 1 and grey for side 2.

-	Menu "View/Grid" : Display or hide the grid.

-	Menu "View/Lines of sight" : display the square that can be seen from a position

-	Menu "View/Units without order" : When selected, the unit with an order are highlighted.

-	Menu "View/Destinations" : Display the anticipated positions after the movements. In this mode, it is not possible to give orders or to select a unit.

-	Menu "View/Terrain" : When selected, display a blue/red cross at the centre to indicate cover/forbidden squares. It is recommended to hide the unit when using this option.

-	Menu "View/Label" : Display or hide the location names on the map.


THe units window
Units window

The units window displays the information about the selected unit. To display or hide this window, choose "Unit" in the "window" menu.

In the upper area of the units window are displayed a picture that indicates the type of the unit and a national flag (right).

In the bottom area, we can find the following information:

MP left : 	Number of remaining movement points.

Force :    	Current force of the  unit.

Range :	Fire range if an artillery unit is selected

Remark: If the selected unit is detected but not identified, no information is displayed in the unit window.


Mini-map window

The mini-map window allows to visualise the whole battle field and to select the area to display in the main window. To display or hide the mini-map, choose "Mini map" in the "Window" menu.


"Next phase" and "Replay last execution" commands
Commands "Next phase" and "Replay last execution"

When a player has entered all his moves (order phase), he must use the "Next phase" command of the "Game" menu (or the green arrow in the tool bar or the F9 key). The system executes then the movements and computes the results (execution phase). With the "Replay last execution" command of the "Game" menu, the player can then review the execution phase (the game is in the result mode). He can of course not enter orders because its turn is now finished. When the player has finished studying the results of its turn, he uses again the "Next phase" command to go to the next player.

This one starts then its own order phase and can use the "Replay last execution" to see what happened during his opponent's turn.


Order phase

During its order phase a player enters its movement orders.

1)	Selecting a unit

To select a unit, click on the counter with the left mouse button. The selected square is then surrounded by a red square. The name of the selected unit is display in the state bar and the information about the unit is display in the unit window if it is activated.

2) Entering movements orders

To give orders to the selected unit, just click with the right mouse button on the destination. A complete path is compute by the program. A precise path can also be given by entering all squares of the sequence with the right button. One can in the same manner extend an existing path. When clicking with the right button on the last square of the current path, this last move is cancelled and when clicking on the unit, the whole existing path is cancelled.

Remark 1: When the program computes a path, it takes into account the terrain, the speed of the unit and the position of the friendly and enemy units. Thus, if a friendly unit is static, no path goes through it (except for leaders)

Remark 2: When a movement conflict is detected by the system in a square (two units want to go to the same square at the same moment), a red cross is displayed in the upper left corner.


Execution phase

During the execution phase, the program moves the units according to the players orders and compute fires and fights.

If the "Animation" option of the "Option" menu is activated, the program displays the movements of the units and animations for fires fights occurring in the selected area. If in addition the "Auto-centring" option of the same menu is checked, the program automatically moves selected area to display all animations.

The speed of the animations can be defined with the "Animation speed…" command of the "Option" menu.


Result phase

When the program has finished with the execution phase, it displays a result window if the "Display Results" option is checked in the "Option" menu. This window can also be displayed with the "Results" command in the "Window" menu. Most the computations are details in this window.


E-mail games
Playing a game by e-mail

To play a game by e-mail, the first player must choose "e-mail" for its opponent in the option dialogue box when creating a new game (historical or fictitious). In this case, the program asks a name for generating the file to send at each turn and a password to protect the files (thus, one player cannot open the file he has to send to its opponent).

When a player has finished with its orders, he uses the « next phase » command as for a normal game and the program save the position in a file that has to be sent to the opponent. When this one receives the file, he just open it like any saved game and can enter its orders.

Remark : To play a fictitious game with built-in armies, the players must exchange their armies (file *.arm) before beginning the game.


LAN/Internet games
Playing a LAN/Internet game

1) Connection

To play with a distant opponent using a LAN or Internet, the first player, which creates the game, must choose "TCP/IP" as second player in the options dialog box. Before loading the scenario, the program displays in this case a connection dialog box (see bellow), which shows the IP address of the player and ask for a nickname. The default port number can be changed but it is usually not useful. When clicking on "Enable connection", the program starts to listen to remote connections. The first player must then send his IP address to his opponent. The second player chooses the "Connect distant game" command of the "File" menu to obtain the same kind of dialog box. This time, the IP address must be filled with the first player address. After the second player press "Enable connection", the two computers are connected and the game can begin.

2) During the game

For a TCP/IP game, the second player starts in result phase. When the first player has finished, both player must end their phase for the orders to be exchanged. The first player goes then to the result phase and the second player to the order phase and so on. There are thus two synchronizations for each turn.

In both case, both players must end their phase for the synchronization to process. When the opponent player has not ask for ending his phase, the "next turn" command displays the following message and the synchronization will process after the opponent will have use the same command.

3) Exchanging messages

Once a connection is established in TCP/IP games, a chat window is available to exchange messages with the opponent. To send a message, simply enter the message in the bottom area and use the return key or the "Send" button.

The window can be close with the "Hide" button and reactivated with the "Chat" command of the "Window" menu. The window is automatically reactivated if a new message comes.

The upper area indicates the state of the players (ready for synchronization or not).


Aid card

With the "Aid card" command of the "Help" menu, a window with a summary of the data used in the game (units speed, fight modifiers...) is displayed.


Army hierarchy
Armies window

The armies window allows seeing the composition of both armies (the menu bar is used to switch between the two sides). In front of each counter are displayed the name and the type of the unit in a colour according to the state of the unit (destroyed, not arrived, normal). For reinforcements, the coming turn is displayed. Of course, a player can see only the part of the enemy army that is visible on the terrain.

The armies window can be hided/shown with the "hierarchy" option of the "Window" menu.


Player scores
Players scores

At the end of a won game, the local player is invited to record his victory in the following dialog box. Select the player name and press "Assign". If the player is not still registered, use the "New player" button.

During a game, the "Score" command of the "Help" menu allows to view the scores.


Creation/modification of a scenario

To use the scenario editor, choose « scenario creation » or « scenario modification » from the « Design » menu. In case of modification, the name of scenario is asked by the program.

The creation of a scenario requires the following steps:

1)	Definition of the files and the parameters

2)	Definition of the deployment zones

3)	Positioning of the units

4)	Definition of the coming turn of reinforcements

5)	Positioning of the objectives

6)	Definition of the description files

The description files are text files created by the program during the first scenario saving. They must be completed by using a text editor like notepad. If the scenario name is « test.scn » then the files will have the following names: « testP1.txt » (introduction text for player 1), « testP2.txt » (introduction text for player 2) et « testF.txt » (epilogue for both players).


Designing the scenario parameters
Scenario parameters

First, select the two army files and the map file. The army files (*.arm) are files that describe the battle order of a side and are created with the army editorArmyEdition. The maps have to be created with map editor (MapEdit.exe), which is located in the main directory of the game. A name for each side has also to be provided.

The number of turns indicates the length of the game. The description is the small text of 4 lines that will appear in the scenario selection box.


Defining the deployment areas
Creation of the deployment zones

In a scenario, each side can have up to four rectangular deployment zones. One can deploy units only in the deployment zones during scenario edition. These zones are also used when the players deploy themselves their units.

To (re)define a deployment zone, select this one in the list that appears in the tools bar. Select the upper left corner of the zone and choose the "Set NW point for DZ" in the "Scenario" menu. And do the same with the bottom right corner ("Set SE point for DZ" command).


Positioning the units
Positioning of the units

To position a unit (in the deployment zone), select the unit with the left button and right click in the destination.

Remark: Two fighting units (non leader) cannot be stacked together, even if they do not arrive at the same time.


Defining supply point and objectives
Definition of objectives

To define the objective of the scenario, just select a square and then the "Add/Remove objective" command of the "scenario" menu. Repeating the same command removes the objective.


Editing the armies
Battle order edition

During the creation or the modification of a scenario, the armies can be modified using the « Edit battle orders » command from the « Scenario » menu. The dialog box is then very similar to the one for armies' edition and can be used in the same way. One can in addition define for each unit its coming turn if reinforcement.


Creating/modifying an army
Creation/modification of an army

To use the army editor, choose the « army creation » or « army modification » command from the "Design" menu. Choose then the nation or an existing army. The program displays the dialog box for army edition. An army created by this way is save in a ".arm" file and can be use to create a scenario. The army can be modified


Dialog box for army edition
Army editor dialog box

The dialog box for editing an army is made of two main parts.

In the left part, the hierarchical order of battle is displayed and the user can select a unit. The following buttons are associated to this part and allow modifying the hierarchy:

New : To add a new unit under the currently selected unit.

Delete : To remove the currently selected unit and all its sub-units.

Copy : To copy to memory a reference to the currently selected unit.

Paste : To duplicate under the currently selected unit the unit copied to memory and all its sub-units.

In the right part, the currently selected unit is described. One can modify its name, its nation and its type. For a modification to be validated, use the « update » button (or just press enter).

Finally, the following buttons are for global actions:

Add a new nation : To ad a new nation. Each army can contain units of up to 5 different nations.

Save : To save the army in a « .arm » file.

Close : To end the edition and close the dialog box.